I know I have zero decorating sense. We painted the downstairs of our home and decided not to put what we did have up, back on the walls, but rather to get new stuff. It's been 6 mos and our walls are bare!!! I need ideas desperately.
I have tried looking in decorating books, magazine, etc. And I've gone into furniture stores.
I'm hopeless and helpless!
How do I make my house look fabulous without a professional decorator's help???
Most of my "decor" came from IKEA. I have friends who have a lot more expensive art on their walls and they couldn't believe that's where it came from. I love IKEA!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/series/18049/
Ive done pretty much the same thing as you,,only its been 2 years since I took stuff down. I used to love what I had up but now I really want something modern and new, but have no idea what I like.(and I have blue carpet,,lol)
I love this type of stuff, and blog about interior design all the time. One of my favorite design blogs is sfgirlbybay.com and apartmenttherapy.com a good 'family' home fashion blogger though is nester, inthefunlane and theletteredcottage.
One thing I did with my walls, is a gallery wall and also a plate wall, you may like the look:
http://littlelovables.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-very-own-fr...
her is my new larger gallery wall I redid when we moved, but I'm redoing it yet again soon:
http://littlelovables.blogspot.com/2010/09/homefront-livi...
the plate wall
http://littlelovables.blogspot.com/2010/05/homefront-addi...
Art on the walls makes all the difference even if the walls are painted white. Find art that you love or colors in the art that you love. I have bought stuff that I love not knowing where it is going just because I love it but usually I know The particular location where I want to hang the art. Also, It does not have to be expensive. Buy ready made frames at Michael's or AC Moore Arts and Craft stores then buy prints that match the size. This is so much less expensive than custom framing. Kohls, Home Goods and Marshals have great art at great prices although it does add up if you are doing a room or two. JC Penneys has affordable window treatments that look great too. Also check out Houzz.com for decorating ideas by room and style. Have fun with it.
I look through the Pottery Barn catalogue for inspiration. Their items are REALLY pricey, but I will tear out pages that I like and see if I can find similar items in other stores and usually find Target, Pier One and Marshalls/TJ Maxx to be great resources!
When our neighbor came into our house for the first time she commented on it looking just like the PB catalogue which made me smile b/c it does, but I didn't spend a fortune to make it look that way!
**Huge fan of framing old maps, adds and magazine covers from local towns and establishments. They look great and are much better than the commercial art you would purchase through a retailer!**
Watch HGTV. I've gotten great ideas from all the different shows. Hope you find something!
I second the IKEA idea. I love that store and when you go in there or look in their catalog, they have rooms set up with all the decorations and details, you can use a lot of those ideas in your own home.....
Try this article
http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/decorating-styl...
oh my gosh, ME too. we moved in 2 years ago and previous owners left their nails since the paint was relatively new and we liked the neutral colors. we'll I hung ONE picture and still have about 300 nails left in the wall. I happened to stop at a yard sale last week and found a picture probably home interior so somethign like that that I like well enough that goes with the colors, so you might try that.
A couple of family members save their magazines for me so i go through family circle and woman's day etc and rip out colors i like and stuff like that, That might help you a bit,
Think about what size would look good on your wall, and if it needs to be horizontal or vertical.
try to decide if you like, bold graphic things- think comic books or Movie posters
Or floral paintings
Nature Prints like leaves
Or landscapes
pen and ink drawings of landmarks.
try to think about colors
YOu could get a big frame and put a bunch of family snap shots, I think those look nice in black and white. or do a grouping of several using all the same frames or all diff frames.
Kohls has lots of metal art things to hang on the wall too. I like looking at Big Lots.
I want my art to be personal and special and to find it like you would find a treasure, like at a little shop while on vac in greece or somethign like that. probably not going to happen anytime soon since the biggest trip i've taken lately is to walmart.
i suppose you could buy a blank canvas and have your family helpyou paint it.
anyhow, good luck and if you want to swap photos of our blank walls, maybe we could comiserate.
Having someone hands on is so much different than using magazines or decorating books.
You can take pictures of your space/s & take them to places like pottery barn, crate & barrel, walter e. smith, etc & ask someone to assist you.
Do you have a friend that you like their decorating style, maybe you can make a fun girls shopping trip & treat her to lunch in exchange for her help. My friend asked me to do this for her & I completely changed her entire living room, dining room & bedroom. Also my SIL left her husband & only took her clothes. She moved to North Carolina & we spent 3 days purchasing every item you need for a 1 bedroom apartment (I mean everything). She was asked by the apartment complex to use her apartment to show to potential tenants because it looked beautiful. We did it on a tight but workable budget. Home Goods, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Target, Walmart are awesome stores to make a house look fabulous without a professional decorators help.
Hey to all the mamas that's gonna read this response cause all of us are curious aren't we?
I've read most of the responses and everybody kind of said what to do where to go but there's more to it! It's the how? How to pull everything together for a cohesive look and how to use what I like to make it work. You see, I'm a designer or use to be before I got the dream job of a SAHM (lol) and I only use to work with small/tight budget clients, which are challenging to say the least. At this stage I wish for 1 tight budget client to let my creativeness shine! I decorated so many friends' and family members' houses for free! So to say the least ask someone to help. There's so many people that would love to help and at little or no cost! The reason I say ask is again because of the HOW? Which ornaments and decorative objects to place where and how low or high to hang something, the scale and balance. For some people it comes naturally for others it doesn't and you can have all the money in the world but if you don't have 'it' you have to get someone to help. You have to be able to spot the right stuff, things that doesn't look cheap. So there's much more than just to look at pictures and to do the shopping! And please I do not criticize any of the comments!
Good luck ladies!
I love going to model homes to get new decorating ideas.
art.com is an excellent resource for deciding on what style you'd like to use!
& You could also enlarge some family photos & put them in oversized frames.
HGTV & Better Homes/Gardens both have quizzes to help decipher your design style. Use them....they're fun! & when you get to the end of them, there will be ideas & suggestions to boost your confidence.
I would bet that most of us would be able to fine-tune your thoughts....if you gave us more info!
1. current color of walls, floors, & upholstered pieces
2. fav color, color most used in your personal wardrobe, color you hate
3. design style: modern & clean vs. traditional vs. ethnic & electic?
4. size of the walls you want to fill.
& anything else you think might help us! Good Luck.....& feel free to PM....
Just google family room/living room. It will give you TONS of ideas!
I have found nice art and home decor at Kohls, Bed bath & Beyond, Hobby Lobby, and Home Goods. Just look around the stores and see what appeals to you.
What color did you paint the walls? That is your first step. Then get some nice window treatments, whatever appeals to you. What kind of stuff did you have on your walls before? I am not expert but I personally don't like too many photos on the wall. It's cool to put up old family heirlooms including pictures and mix it up with stuff you find at thrift stores and garage sales. What is your style? If you like a modern look, clean out the clutter and you can keep the walls pretty bare. Check out the decorating books at Home Depot, you can get a lot of ideas!
Saucy Dwellings on livejournal.com -- they're real people decorating their homes and sharing what they've done. I've gotten some fabulous ideas from there.
I always thought that Kimono's looked great hanging on the wall. You could also get some fabric and frame it and put it in different patterns on the wall. Take those pictures that you love and make a frame collage. If you love seashells take pictures of those. A good idea is to get a book that is a coffee table book and if you like the pictures cut some out and frame those. Some rugs can be considered art as well. It just all depends on you.
